Bowland Lakes Leisure Village

8 6 reviews
The lake (added by manager 17 Aug 2022)

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  • Dog-friendly site just outside of the Forest of Bowland, in Lancashire
  • A 35-minute drive from the Lake District; 40 minutes from Blackpool
  • Fishing lakes; walking and cycling in the surrounding countryside
Whether you’re after a relaxing fishing trip, long cycle rides in the country or fish and chips at the seaside (or indeed all three), Bowland Lakes Leisure Village could well be the place for you. A five-minute drive from the Lancashire village of Forton, this dog-friendly site is located just outside the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The surrounding countryside is excellent for outdoor pursuits. Within a 25-minute drive, you’ll find scenic hills that you can hike or climb, among them Fair Snape Fell and Parlick, where you can have a picnic while admiring expansive views – and maybe paragliders as they take to the sky. Keen cyclists will find challenging routes at the scenic Trough of Bowland valley (20 minutes), which is where Sir Bradley Wiggins trained for his Olympic gold. For something less strenuous, in about 40 minutes you could be at the coast, tucking into fish and chips before heading for the rides and roller coasters of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. On site, you’ll be set to spend peaceful days fishing or picnicking by the lakes, which are particularly gorgeous at sunset and sunrise. In terms of site facilities, there’s a toilet block and washing-up area. There’s also a small food shop half an hour’s walk away for any barbecues you might be plotting.

Site type

Lodges, cabins, pods or huts 26

Tourist board rating

Languages spoken

English

Gold David Bellamy Conservation Award AA Holiday Centre

Want to know more about camping in Lancashire?

Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house

Cycle hire

Evening entertainment

Fishing

Fitness centre

Games room

Indoor swimming pool

Kids' club

On-site restaurant/cafe

Outdoor swimming pool

Play area

TV room

Take away

Tennis

Watersports

Amenities on site

Bath available

Car parking by pitch/unit

Composting toilet

Disabled facilities

Dog park

Drying room

Food shop

Free wifi

Ice pack freezing

Internet access

Launderette

Parent & baby washroom

Pick-up from public transport

Portable toilet

Pub toilets

Public telephone

Shower available

Toilet block

Washing-up area

Wifi

Groups welcome

Family friendly

Motorcycle friendly

Single-sex groups welcome

Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided

Barbecues allowed

Campfires allowed

Commercial vehicles allowed

Dogs allowed

Dogs allowed all year

Themes

Lake and/or mountain

Luxury

Peaceful

Spectacular scenery

Walkers' paradise

Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities

Chemical disposal

Electric car charging point(s)

Gas cylinders available

Recycling available

Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby

Dog walk nearby

Type

Small (11-25 pitches)

Tiny (1-10 pitches)

Nearby leisure

Climbing nearby

Cycling nearby

Fishing nearby

Golf nearby

Horse riding nearby

Indoor pool nearby

Leisure/theme park nearby

Mountain biking nearby

Restaurant nearby

Location

Bowland Lakes Leisure Village

Cleveley Bank Lane

Forton

Lancashire

England

PR3 1BY

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London BST (GMT+01:00)

GPS

53.94841°N
-2.75906°W

Nearest transport

Coach
3.3 mi Crossroads
4.4 mi University Underpass
7.3 mi Bus Station
Rail
7.2 mi Lancaster Rail Station
8.6 mi Heysham Port Rail Station
9.3 mi Bare Lane Rail Station
Ferry
8.6 mi Heysham Ferry Terminal
9.8 mi Knott End-On-Sea Ferry Landing
10.2 mi Fleetwood for Knott End Ferry Landing

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

If the weather turns and you don’t fancy sitting in your cagoule under the rain waiting for fish to bite, you can head to the Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre (15 minutes’ drive), where a huge range of indoor entertainment awaits. Options include bowling, curling and miniature golf, plus a cinema and a virtual-reality jungle ride. Bowland Wild Boar Park (35 minutes) is home to more than wild boar, with ostriches, alpacas and meerkats, among other residents. You can feed the animals, ride a tractor (or drive a tank) through the grounds and let the kids blow off some steam at the playground, which has a climbing wall and a zipline. It would be a shame to come to this region and not have a good old hike at Lake District National Park (35 minutes). You can explore forested trails, visit National Trust properties like Wray Castle and Hill Top (Beatrix Potter’s cottage) and, of course, have a go at watersports on the lakes.

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020 2019 2018 2017
Morecambe North 9.8 mi Estuary Good N/A Good Good
Morecambe South 9.8 mi Sea N/A N/A Good Good
Fleetwood 10.7 mi Sea N/A Good Good Good
Cleveleys 12.6 mi Sea N/A Good Good Good
Bispham 13.9 mi Sea N/A Good Good Good

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Beacon Fell Country Park 6.2 mi

Lancaster Castle 7.2 mi

Forest of Bowland 13.7 mi

The Blackpool Tower 15.2 mi

Blackpool Illuminations 15.3 mi

National Trust

Cartmel Priory Gatehouse 19.1 mi

Gawthorpe Hall 21.3 mi

Rufford Old Hall 21.6 mi

Dalton Castle 22.5 mi

Sizergh Castle and Garden 23.2 mi

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Scorton - Bowland - Nicky Nook 1.1 mi

Cockerham - Glasson - Lancaster Canal - Cockerham 2.5 mi

Garstang and Lady Hamilton's Well 3.2 mi

Garstang and Calder Vale 3.2 mi

Clougha Pike 4.9 mi

Local events

  • Lytham Festival (Wednesday 3 July 2024 – Wednesday 3 July 2024)

    Lytham St Annes, Lancashire 16.9 mi

  • Keswick Mountain Festival (Friday 17 May 2024 – Friday 17 May 2024)

    Keswick, Cumbria 26.6 mi

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Reviews

83%

would recommend this site to a friend

67%

would stay here again

  • 66%
    10
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    8
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    6
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Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Cosy camping pod, 🏕 peaceful and relaxing.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 6
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Jane P. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: So peaceful, central to Lancaster and Blackpool, camping pod was clean, warm up great too,kids loved it 👌

Disliked: Nothing to dislike, if you want some peace and quiet this is the place to switch off

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Oh wow, a practically perfect 10/10 score! Thank you Jane! It was a pleasure having you join us for a quiet and relaxing little camping trip. We hope to see you again at Bowland Lakes very soon.

Pod clean , clean area , no rubbish , quiet…

Overall 6/10
Location 6
Value for money 8
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 4
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 6
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: Pod clean , clean area , no rubbish , quiet

Disliked: Too close to motorway. Toilets needs a bit more cleaning

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi there, and thank you for leaving us a review on Pitch Up. Really pleased you'll recommend Bowland to your friends and family, thats so kind. There is always a constant battle with leaves this time of year, they do love to blow in to the toilets area at any given opportunity! We'll make sure the grounds and maintenance team are extra diligent with this pesky natural phenomenon. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, we do hope to see you back at our pods at Bowland very soon.

Location was great, clean, toilet facilities were very clean, such a peaceful…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Wendy L. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: Location was great, clean, toilet facilities were very clean, such a peaceful place and very reasonably priced.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Oh wow! a 10/10, that makes us so proud, thank you. We are really pleased you had a wonderful time with us here at Bowland and hope to see you all again very soon.

Will come back next year nice get away.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 4
Tessa S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: Quiet and clean spot. Showers and toilets were clean and tissue was always filled. Lovely place for fishing and playing hide and seek with the kids. Also electric and heater provided in the pods which was a pleasant surprise.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hi there Tessa - what a BBQ that is! I hope the sausages went on after the flames died down a little. Its great news we managed to get the toilet supply just right this time too! Thanks for letting other visitors know you really enjoyed your stay with us here at Bowland and I hope we get to meet you and your lovely family here again very soon.

Would not stay again

Overall 2/10
Location 8
Value for money 2
Accommodation 6
Facilities / Activities 2
Customer service 8
Child friendliness No rating
Cleanliness 2
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: Pod was in a lovely setting and site was a good location for Morecombe & Lancaster. Had a heater if we needed it and electric sockets. Lovely picnic table overlooking one of the lakes.

Disliked: Showers/toilets were extremely unpleasant, very damp smelling, dirty and water too hot or too cold, no in-between. Son got scared as light kept going off every 5 seconds whilst taking a shower. No toilet roll for second night of our stay.

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hello Anonymous - Thank you for the feedback - you're right, the site really does have some lovely views, relaxing and surround by woodland and lakes. What a shame you didn't have the greatest experience with our shower block though. We'll raise this urgently with the maintenance team to investigate further. We don't have any record of a request to replace the toilet roll for you - we all know how stressful camping can be without loo roll, so this would have been a top priority to replace, had we known. We'd love to have you back at Bowland Lakes, hopefully putting this unfortunate, isolated incident with the hot water feed behind us.

Amazing place to relax, will definitely be back

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Joanna D. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Bowland camping pod

Liked: Tranquility of the place. It’s everything you need to wind down, relax and just soak up the nature. Pods are comfortable, surrounded by woods and lakes, space to park a car next to your pod. Bathrooms are clean and in close proximity

Disliked: Loved everything

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Hello Joanna, thank you for your lovely review of Bowland Lakes. Our first one too! Its such an understated little gem of a park, we love it too. Some find the woodland fishing lakes and the spacing of the lodges and pods a little too far apart, but for those that want a quiet, relaxing and uninterrupted getaway from it all, we think Bowland is just practically perfect. We do hope to see you again, it was a pleasure having you stay with us, thank you.


  • Does Bowland Lakes Leisure Village have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Bowland Lakes Leisure Village dog friendly? Yes View all features
  • What attractions are near Bowland Lakes Leisure Village? If the weather turns and you don’t fancy sitting in your cagoule under the rain waiting for fish to bite, you can head to the Flower Bowl Entertainment Centre (15 minutes’ drive), … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Bowland Lakes Leisure Village?
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  4 p.m. –  6 p.m.
    Depart by:  10 a.m.
    Read more